Buckaroo Bugs
Buckaroo Bugs is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in August 1944, starring Bugs Bunny and directed by Robert Clampett. It runs for about nine minutes, and is in color with a mono sound mix. This is the only short in which Bugs Bunny served as a bona fide villain; while his shorts often portray him as mischievous and violent, he is never actually malicious and is, for the most part, acting as such in self-defense against an aggressor. Cast Mel Blanc provided the voices for Bugs Bunny, Red Hot Ryder, and some of the villagers. Robert C. Bruce was the opening narrator. Lou Lilly wrote the story, and Leon Schlesinger served as producer. While only Manny Gould was credited as an animator, Robert McKimson, Rod Scribner, and Jack Bradbury also aided in the process. Other uncredited 'staff' includes the composers of several uncredited bits of non-original music--Sanford Faulkner ('Arkansas Traveller'), M.K. Jerome ('My Little Buckaroo', where the title ostensibly takes its name), Gioacchino Rossini ('William Tell Overture'), Franz Schubert ('Der Erlkönig'), and J.S. Zamecnik ('In the Stirrups'). All original music was composed by Carl W. Stalling. Summary Unlike most shorts, Bugs Bunny serves as antagonist. In the cartoon, he plays a carrot thief called the Masked Marauder, whom Brooklyn's "Red Hot Ryder" (a parody of Red Ryder) must bring to justice. The cartoon portrays Red Hot Ryder as a dimwit who cannot distinguish Bugs Bunny from the Masked Marauder, and his good-natured slowness is consistently mocked: When Bugs Bunny as the Masked Marauder threatens to shoot Red Hot Ryder, saying, "Stick 'em up, or I'll blow your brains out," the latter treats it like a choice, replying, "Well, now, that's mighty neighborly of you." In the end, Red Hot Ryder catches on, but is unable to catch the Masked Marauder, in the end he tricks him into jumping into the Grand Canyon, when underground Red Hot Ryder finally figures out that Bugs is the Masked Marauder. Bugs pops up from beneath the ground with a lit candle and says "That's right! That's right! You win the 64 dollar question!" (a reference to the "big prize" on the famous radio quiz show, Take It or Leave It. He then kisses him and blows out the candle. Availability *VHS - Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny on Parade *Laserdisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 2, Side 5 *DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc 3 Production details *This was Bugs Bunny's second appearance in the Looney Tunes series. His first was a short cameo in Porky Pig's Feat, but was not a starring role, therefore making Buckaroo Bugs Bugs' first starring role in a Looney Tunes short. *The IN TECHNICOLOR on the bottom of "PRODUCED BY LEON SCHLESINGER" changes slightly in this cartoon; compare Brother Brat's IN TECHNICOLOR to Buckaroo Bugs' IN TECHNICOLOR. This IN TECHNICOLOR would be used until late-1948, when Color By TECHNICOLOR came out. *This was the last cartoon release to bear Leon Schlesinger's name, as he sold his cartoon studio to Warner Bros. around the time of its release. *The older version of Bugs Bunny would be used again in the next Bugs short, The Old Grey Hare. *"Red Hot Ryder" serves as a spoof of Red Ryder, borrowing the image of the popular Western serial's cowboy hero Don Berry. *This and Hare Conditioned are the only two cartoons with Bugs Bunny to use the Looney Tunes drum ending with Porky Pig. That is because he appeared and replaced Porky in Hare Tonic and Baseball Bugs. *When Bugs blows the candle light at the end of the cartoon, Robert Clampett's bay-vooop! sound is heard. The next cartoon short to use it would be The Old Grey Hare. *This and The Old Grey Hare use the same fonts for the opening credits. * Victory gardens were a wartime civilian resource initiative, whereby civilians were encouraged to plant food crops in their gardens to supplement scarce wartime food resources. That Bugs was stealing carrots from a victory garden would have added to his villainy in this cartoon. Censorship *Some syndicated versions of this cartoon (particularly one version shown on a TBS station in Illinois) omit the part in which Red Hot Ryder's groin being covered by a fig leaf after the Masked Marauder takes off his belt and diaper pin with a magnet. Gallery 8mm-aap-cartoons.jpg External Links Buckaroo Bugs at SuperCartoons.net Buckaroo Bugs at B99.TV Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons Category:Cartoons directed by Bob Clampett Category:Shorts Category:Looney Tunes Shorts Category:1944 Category:Bugs Bunny Bob Clampett Category:Cartoons written by Lou Lilly Category:Cartoons animated by Manny Gould Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons animated by Jack Bradbury Category:Cartoons animated by Robert McKimson Category:Cartoons animated by Rod Scribner Category:Cartoons with layouts by Thomas McKimson Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Michael Sasanoff Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Robert C. Bruce Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package